Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) Upgraded to Strong-Buy by StockNews.com

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on MWA. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Mueller Water Products from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Mueller Water Products from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of Mueller Water Products from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.60.

Mueller Water Products Stock Down 0.9 %

MWA traded down $0.19 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $22.07. The company had a trading volume of 938,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,254,725. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.19. Mueller Water Products has a 52 week low of $12.13 and a 52 week high of $23.12. The company has a market capitalization of $3.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.48, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.31, a current ratio of 3.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.57.

Mueller Water Products (NYSE:MWA) last issued its earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $356.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $329.67 million. Mueller Water Products had a return on equity of 19.46% and a net margin of 9.71%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.18 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Mueller Water Products will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Mueller Water Products

In other Mueller Water Products news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total value of $1,993,568.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 544,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider J Scott Hall sold 102,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $1,993,568.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 544,029 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,630,326.66. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Thomas J. Hansen sold 10,791 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.55, for a total transaction of $221,755.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 102,792 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,112,375.60. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 256,869 shares of company stock worth $5,141,842 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Mueller Water Products

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 5,387.9% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 220,447 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,784,000 after purchasing an additional 216,430 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Mueller Water Products by 434.6% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,892 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $106,000 after purchasing an additional 3,977 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Mueller Water Products during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Mueller Water Products by 2,700.0% in the 3rd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 11,200 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $243,000 after buying an additional 10,800 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning grew its stake in Mueller Water Products by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 23,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $516,000 after buying an additional 1,405 shares in the last quarter. 91.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Mueller Water Products

Mueller Water Products, Inc manufactures and markets products and services for the transmission, distribution, and measurement of water used by municipalities, and the residential and non-residential construction industries in the United States, Israel, and internationally. It operates in two segments, Water Flow Solutions and Water Management Solutions.